The DC Universe is expanding, and while James Gunn’s Superman set a high bar for hope and heroism last year, Supergirl takes us down a much darker path. It is a film that isn’t afraid to be messy, even if that grit occasionally extends to the technical side of things. Directed by Craig Gillespie (Cruella, I,Tonya) the intergalactic setting for this movie catapults us out of Metropolis and introduces us the universe that DC Studios directors James Gunn and Peter Safran are attempting to build. While this may be jarring for those used to traditional superhero films, DC are clearly making a statement that their heroes don’t need to follow an expected backstory for us to know who they are.
The story here is inspired by the incredibly popular Tom King graphic novel Woman of Tomorrow, Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Mily Alcock) is on a birthday bender, travelling to planets with red suns where her powers are muted and she can feel the effects of alcohol. Along for the journey is her best bud Krypto, the incredibly cute dog who stole our hearts in last year’s Superman film. One day while Kara is recovering from a hangover, Krypto is poisioned by a space pirate Krem of the Yellow Hills (Mattias Shoenarts) while he steals Kara’s ship. This sets her off on a collision course with Ruthye (Eve Ridley) who’s entire family was killed by Krem. The two have 72 hours to find the antidote to the poision that hands around Krem’s neck and save Krypto.
Supergirl has no issues at all jumping from planet to planet, not over explaining things and allowing us to go along for the ride. We encounter many alien species who have their own unique languages and with no subtitles provided, it really does help the film feel like it has its own living and breathing universe. Alcock is the glue that holds all of this together, her messy and grounded performance may be jarring for some from the syrupy sweet performance of David Coronswet as her cousin Kal-El, but this works so incredibly well. Showing Kara having to witness her entire planet be destroyed and her parents suffer a slow death from the fallout truly puts you in the emotional headspace that she is in. We do get to see the first time that Kara and Kal-El meet on Earth and you can clearly see the pain and loss in her performance and it is exactly what this film needs.
A late addition to the project was Lobo, played here by Jason Momoa in what he described as his dream role. He is equally as tortured and filled with pain, so their pairing actually works extremely well. Lobo is used just enough for us to want to see a lot more of him in future DC films or even a solo project. We get an introduction to the character scene, an action scene and a “Yeah I think Supergirl is cool” scene from him and he is on his magical motorbike and away into the stars. The same can be said about Coronswet, we get a few scenes with Superman, but he never feels shoehorned in to create the universe, his connection to Kara is important to the story and her pain and Gillsepie does a great job balancing this so it doesn’t feel like some world-building MCU knock-off.
For all of its greaet moments, there are a few times the moderately lower budget of this film shows. some of the special effects, particularly in the later gritty action scenes are a little rough and do take you out of the action. The obvious comparison here is Guardians of the Galaxy and that is easy to say because it is set in space, this does feel like a completely different and unique setting. The only real homework you need to know is yellow sun planets are good and green sun planets are bad. It’s not all bad, Alcock and Momoa are absolute powerhouses on screen that you can easily get past the visual messiness.
In previous versions of the character the powers and fighting style is the same as Superman’s, something that did really stand out here is the way Kara fights is completely different to Kal-El. She does use her heat vision a lot more and feels more ninja like in her fighting moves that set her apart as her own hero.
There will be many who will struggle with this rapid change of tone in the DCU from last year’s Superman, and that’s ok. This film is not trying to setup an entire universe, it is merely showcasing a character who lives in it and their struggle to deal with their past and to find their way back home. Supergirl feels more at home with the DCU’s Peacemaker series than it does with the high gloss of Superman, and this is what really connected me to it. With a career defining performance from Mily Alcock and Jason Momoa finally getting the role he has always wanted (and killing it!) Supergirl is charting its own course in the DCU, unafraid to stray from superhero movie expectations and stand out on its own.
Supergirl is in cinemas June 25.
